Cinnamon Rolls

A few weeks ago I had decided that my personal mission for the summer was to find a go-to, simply amazing, cinnamon roll recipe. Two recipes in and I've already got it! :) My friend Sarah Jane over at Romantic History shared this recipe here, and they are every bit as good as she makes them sound! I made them whole wheat, and they did beautifully. My only advice is to not skimp on the 10 minutes of kneading (although my arms sure wished I would!!), the dough becomes magically soft and elastic when you're approaching the ten minute point, it completely effects the whole process. :) Since my Grammy asked, I'm re-posting my own cook book's version here...

Sarah Jane's Maple Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 c. milk

2/3 c. maple syrup

2/3 c. soft butter

2 eggs

1 1/2 tsp. salt

6 c. flour (I used white whole wheat)

2 pkg. yeast

Filling:

1 c. packed brown sugar

4 TB flour

3 TB cinnamon

1 stick cold butter

In a saucepan, warm milk, syrup and butter til butter is melted - do NOT boil. Cool to a warm temperature beneficent to yeast. When nicely warm to the touch, put in yeast. Stir in eggs and salt. Mix in 3 cups of flour. Add enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Turn out onto board or floured counter and knead for 10 minutes. Pat dough into ball, place in greased bowl and cover with a towel.

Let rise for 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide into two. Roll each ball into a rectangle, appx. 12" x 18". Combine filling ingredients in bowl, cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture. Spread filling evenly over rectangles of dough. Roll up each rectangle into a fat log. Cut each log in half, then cut each half into 5 rolls. Place 15 rolls on a baking sheet. The remaining 5 rolls put into a separate baking sheet. Cover and let rise for forty minutes.

Preheat oven to 375. Bake rolls for 25-35 minutes or until golden brown on top. Remove from oven and top with a clean towel. (if you don't do this the rolls will get hard on top). Let rolls cool beneath towel while you make the icing.

Icing:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 TB butter, melted

3 TB maple syrup

1 to 2 TB milk

Combine the powdered sugar, melted butter and syrup in a bowl. Add in enough milk for desired consistency. Spread over warm rolls and let rolls cool, uncovered, completely. When cool put into an air tight container.

These have been a HUGE hit over here, so I think they will become our Saturday breakfast. I can make them up on Friday afternoon, so there's not any coin flipping for who has to make breakfast (vs. sleeping until b'fast is done), which I'm sure Joseph will like, since *somehow* he always draws the short straw on that one... ;-)